It almost always points back to the black American church. The vocal lessons they get from singing there are unmatched.
Tea.
Plus considering the fact that singing was so heavily ingrained in Black culture because that's one of the few things the slaves could do as a mental and emotional escape and stress reliever. The spirituals sung in the fields by slaves led to what shaped a lot of American music as we know it today, tbh. But yeah, singing tends to be something very organically present in a lot of Black American kids' upbringings. It's largely cultural.
Not to mention (as well as the previous posts above me), black people have to work 10x harder than the whites. So to be in this industry especially as a black female, you really have to stand out and have talent that can't be denied.
But black people >>>>
Not to mention (as well as the previous posts above me), black people have to work 10x harder than the whites. So to be in this industry especially as a black female, you really have to stand out and have talent that can't be denied.
But black people >>>>
Its not a race thing. There are many great singers within all races. Its more about the genre/style of music that has bigger tradition and influence in different parts of world and also different music appeals to different groups of people.
While Afro-American singers you mentioned grew up being influenced by black American church, listening to gospel, soul, jazz or R&B, they adopted similar singing style and pursued their careers in those genres. For example in Europe are different traditions and influences, great singers tend to pursue their careers in opera, chanson, cabaret, professional choirs etc. where you can find just as many great singers. Being a great singer certainly isnt a race thing, but the style and genre of music a singer chooses to do tends to be.
Black Gospel Church choirs have helped encourage a culture of singing from a young age in the Black community in the US. Also all the famous singers had the good fortune to be discovered by someone and placed in an environment where they could become famous singers. In other words, in America during the last century there existed an industry to find and promote singers on radio. It was possible to become a touring professional singer, as a female. Not every country had such a system. There must be loads of potential singers in parts of the world, where women are not allowed/discouraged to sing professionally, which is sad.
You also have to note that the artists listed as global above are all American. The fact that they are known around the world is due to the consequence of American cultural domination of the world in the last century, especially in the world of entertainment. The global dominance of the English language plays a huge factor too. If China had been the dominant cultural power of the century, then Chinese singers would be the global stars of the last century. If Spain had been the dominant cultural power, then spanish language singers would be the biggest global singers etc.
Also Bríseis makes a good point about in some countries the best vocalists go into other genres of music such as classical or opera. If Kiri Te Kanawa or Katherine Jenkins had gone into pop music, they would be regarded up there with Whitney etc.
Another great observation is their knack for mastering incredibly difficult techniques (due to black cultural singing styles) their natural musicianship and great sense of interpretation and they seem to really have GREAT ears at a VERY young age
i.e
especially gospel singers!! They casually wipe out most mainstream artists vocally!
Not to mention (as well as the previous posts above me), black people have to work 10x harder than the whites. So to be in this industry especially as a black female, you really have to stand out and have talent that can't be denied.
But black people >>>>
